Development project on Brook's Landing stalled

An ambitious development project planned for the 19th Ward has been stalled indefinitely. The Brook’s Landing project was an attempt to bring a restaurant, a coffee shop and several other businesses and entertainment opportunities to the struggling neighborhood. But for several months now, it has been stalled by federal regulations governing the use of land designated as parkland. Associate Vice President and Director of Public Relations Robert Kraus was disappointed by the delay. “This particular point has been in limbo for months, quite frankly, and as soon as the city gets the go-ahead then they will be able to establish a firm construction schedule,” he said. “The sticking point has been the process of what’s called parkland alienation, and a final determination has been needed from Albany that a small piece of land north of Elmwood Ave. can effectively be taken out of parkland and used for this development,” Kraus said. “To my knowledge, there is widespread local agreement that this is not particularly valuable as parkland, and therefore there should be no reason not to proceed.”While there have been some concerns raised by residents about the proposed changes to the road system, they are not expected to cause further delay.”The city has listened carefully to the concerns of some residents, because Plymouth would be pretty much rerouted to the end of Elmwood,” Kraus said.